Query over members

MEMBERS of the Public Accounts Committee yesterday came under scrutiny following allegations that some have been terminated.

The United Front for Democratic Fiji spokesman, Mick Beddoes, yesterday claimed he was "very reliably" made aware that some committee members were allegedly terminated last Friday.

Mr Beddoes claimed the alleged terminations were based on questions members posed over some ministerial salaries.

"It has been suggested that a possible reason behind their sacking could be the line of questioning the committee followed to get answers to the various matters they were seeking answers for," Mr Beddoes said.

He claimed that another area of a possible disagreement that might have contributed to the termination of the committee members were questions related to the electoral boundaries and why these boundaries were not ready.

Mr Beddoes urged the State to confirm or deny the sacking of the committee members.

"And if they have indeed been sacked, then the people have a right to know by whom and on what grounds?"

When contacted last night, Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama referred all questions to the line ministry.

However, Auditor-General Tevita Bolanavanua confirmed members were in office last week.

"As far as I am concerned, they were still working last week," Mr Bolanavanua said.

When asked who and how many members were on the committee, he said he would not be able to confirm this as there had been "a lot of changes made to the membership".